The present invention relates to an improved chair with a seat which is independently rotatable and translatable with respect to its pedestal.
It is well known in the art of chair construction to allow the seat of a chair to rotate with respect to its pedestal. It is also known to provide a seat which may be translated with respect to its pedestal. Prior art chairs with rotating seats include stools such as for example, those used at counters in restaurants or bars, and office chairs. Prior art chairs with seats which are translatable include automobile and truck seats.
In many situations, such as for use with physically challenged individuals or in confined locations, it is desirable to provide a chair with a seat which is both rotatable and translatable and which is easy to operate.
Previous attempts have been made to construct chairs with seats which are both rotatable and translatable. U.S. Pat. No. 3,542,326 shows a slide mechanism for an adjustable chair. The slide mechanism, which is rotatably mounted on the pedestal of the chair, allows the seat of the chair to translate with respect the pedestal.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,290,464 shows a mechanism which allows the translation and rotation of seats in motor vehicles. Specifically, the seat is mounted on rails and a gear and toothed track operate to rotate the seat through ninety degrees as it is translated between the extremes of the track. This facilitates entry to and exit from the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,409,114 shows another mechanism allowing the translation and rotation of the seat of a chair. The mechanism features an interlock whereby the seat may be rotated up to 90 degrees from the forward direction only when the seat is at one extreme of its range of translation. The interlock also operates to inhibit translation of the seat when the seat is rotated from a forward facing orientation.
Problems and disadvantages exist with the prior art proposals. In some prior proposals, the rotation and translation operations cannot be independently accomplished. Where the rotation and translation operations are capable of being independently performed, separate mechanisms are required to inhibit each of the rotation and translation operations. These mechanisms are often difficult to operate by physically challenged individuals, are expensive to construct due to the increased number of components and are often not compact, rendering them impractical for many potential applications.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel chair which obviates or mitigates these difficulties.